Suspected Ransomware Takes Out Major US Healthcare Provider

There are major concerns for the health of patients across America and beyond after one of the nation’s largest hospital providers was struck by an apparent ransomware attack over the weekend.

Universal Health Services (UHS) claims to operate around 400 acute care hospitals, behavioral health facilities and ambulatory centers across the US, Puerto Rico and the UK.

It posted a brief statement on Monday morning Eastern Time admitting that its IT network across all UHS facilities is currently offline due to an “IT security issue.

“We implement extensive IT security protocols and are working diligently with our IT security partners to restore IT operations as quickly as possible,” it continued.

“In the meantime, our facilities are using their established backup processes including offline documentation methods. Patient care continues to be delivered safely and effectively.”

Given its reference to backup processes, the incident seems very much like a ransomware attack. It also fits the classic ransomware MO of attacking targets at the weekend when technical support may take longer to rally, and of targeting healthcare organizations that have much to lose from refusing to pay.

In fact, Microsoft revealed in April that ransomware gangs were deliberately targeting the healthcare sector during the COVID-19 crisis.

Reports on social media suggest that some patients are being redirected to other hospitals, as UHS continues to tackle the IT incident.

Fresh in the mind is an incident in Germany earlier this month when a patient died after delays ..

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